It is known to firm or smooth wrinkled human skin or skin lacking in elasticity by applying thereto one of a variety of formulations which, upon drying, operate to temporarily stretch the skin. These prior art formulations and methods, however, suffer from one or more of numerous disadvantages, namely, excessive cost, insufficient firming or smoothing action, instability, offensive odor, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,309 describes a composition comprising an aqueous solution of from about 1% to about 5% of sodium polystyrene sulfonate having an average molecular weight of between about 300,000 and about 1,000,000, optionally containing from 0.5 to 10% of a water soluble polymer (e.g. polyvinylpyrrolidone) having an average molecular weight below about 19,000, which is particularly suited for smoothing wrinkled human skin for up to about 8 hours.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a composition and method for firming human skin lacking in elasticity which constitutes an improvement over the composition and method described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,309.